Syracuse football loses to Maryland 63-20: Brent Axe recap

The Syracuse University football team didn’t just lose a game when it was walloped by Maryland 63-20 on Saturday in College Park, Md.

Syracuse’s stumble against the Terrapins means that ESPN’s College GameDay will not set up on the SU Quad but instead will accept this rose from Ames, Iowa, for Iowa vs. Iowa State on Saturday.

A College GameDay appearance would have officially lifted Syracuse vs. Clemson’s status from a big game to an event. GameDay often goes to where the biggest game in college football is, or the appearance of the show gives it that status.

The loss and no GameDay is also a blown opportunity to give Syracuse University a three-hour commercial. No one could tell you what that means more than SU athletic director John Wildhack, who was a longtime ESPN executive.

The world will have to wait longer to see Lee Corso put on the Otto the Orange costume.

Syracuse has to pick itself up off the canvas after a beatdown by Maryland for a matchup with No. 1 Clemson looming on Saturday night.

“This is definitely humble pie,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. “I don’t know what it tastes like. It probably tastes exactly the way I feel right now.”

GameDay may be skipping a visit to the Salt City, but Syracuse will still have a national, primetime audience to witness how it responds as the next game against the Tigers, who have won 17 straight games, is on ABC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night.

“A discussion about a Dino Babers-coached team always shifts to offense, and for good reason. But let’s not forget the huge leap the defense made last year, including being a top five team in the country in turnovers. Matching that torrid pace in creating mistakes may be tough, but the Orange defense will be better this year.”

Here is a reaction I wrote about that prediction in last week’s recap:

“It’s only one game, but I’m liking that prediction so far.”

After watching Syracuse’s defensive debacle in a 63-20 loss to Maryland, welp, I’m going to need a mulligan on that one.

Against Liberty, Syracuse had 14 tackles for a loss, collected eight sacks, created four turnovers, held the Flames to minus-4 rushing yards and pitched a shutout.

Against Maryland on Saturday, Syracuse was transported to an alternate defensive universe.

The Orange allowed 650 total yards, including 354 rushing yards. Maryland had four different backs rush for at least 67 yards and score a touchdown. The Terrapins scored a touchdown on seven of their first eight possessions.

Maryland punted only three times, was 11 of 15 on third down and averaged nearly eight yards per carry.

Babers noted Syracuse had to adjust to formations and plays he had not seen on film from Maryland head coach Mike Locksley’s team the week before, failing a big test every coach has to take early in the season.

Syracuse defensive back Antwan Cordy (8) during a game against Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, at Maryland Stadium in College Park, Md. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

Syracuse’s biggest defensive sin was a startling number of missed tackles. Maryland running backs Javon Leake (107 yards), Jake Funk (94 yards) Anthony McFarland (75 yards) and Tayon Fleet-Davis (68 yards) took an easy afternoon stroll through the Orange defense. Leake ripped off a 64-yard touchdown. Funk had a 54-yard run and a fourth-quarter touchdown drive where he ran for 92 yards on three straight carries. All four backs had at least one run over 20 yards.

Syracuse defensive players whiffed on so many Maryland tackles it was like the game was played on ice and only Maryland remembered to bring their skates.

Liberty is Liberty and Maryland is Maryland, but Syracuse’s defensive performance was a stunning reversal from dominant to disaster in one week.

Lagging Linebackers

The Orange defense does not lack talent. Defensive ends Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman and safety Andre Cisco will all knock on the NFL’s door someday.

Locksley and Maryland quarterback Josh Jackson did a masterful job mixing play-action and running the football with ease on Saturday, putting the Orange linebackers on their heels all day.

Syracuse’s run defense struggled so much that it had to call on safeties to cheat up and help repeatedly. That opened space behind the defense for Jackson to pick apart.

Maryland landed an uppercut squarely on Syracuse’s chin early in the game and just kept punching, forcing the Orange defense to stagger around the ring for all four rounds of the fight.

Growing Pains

DeVito’s second start as Syracuse’s starting quarterback was better than the first, but still showed the growing pains the Orange offense is undergoing in the transition from the Eric Dungey era.

DeVito was 28-of-39 for 330 yards with three touchdowns and one interception against the Terrapins. A good stat line at first glance (as I’ll detail below) but with some warts.

DeVito turned the ball over twice against the Terps. He had the ball stripped out of his hands in the first quarter and threw his interception in the second. Both plays led to touchdown drives for the Terrapins.

Syracuse quarterback Tommy DeVito (13) during a game against Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, at Maryland Stadium in College Park, Md. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

The interception was an egregious throw forced to the sideline near the 10-minute mark of the second quarter. DeVito’s intended target Nykeim Johnson was out of bounds and had his back turned to his quarterback, having given up on the route. DeVito fired the pass right into the hands of Maryland’s Jordan Mosley instead of throwing it away.

Maryland sacked DeVito four times. This not only further exposed the early struggles of the Orange offensive line but also a growing flaw in the Orange attack.

Dungey’s ground game and fearless attitude would give a play life even when it appeared to flatline due to defensive pressure.

DeVito is much more on the technical side. If a play breaks down, it simply breaks down.

DeVito has not shown to be a threat with his legs. Opposing teams will surely take notice of this and try to keep him in a box.

Does Babers have to consider more running plays for DeVito or stick to the plan to mold the offense around his talents?

It’s not all on DeVito. He’s working with an offensive line that is struggling to give him ample time to make a play and his receivers aren’t helping when they ease up on routes and are still a step slow in the timing department.

DeVito has yet to find his eureka moment as a starter.

It will come.

Assembly Line Lags

The Syracuse offensive line is like a game of Tetris. You can see the pieces coming down the screen and where they fit, you just can’t get them to quite line up.

An injury to center Sam Heckel caused another shift on the o-line for the Maryland game. Redshirt junior Airon Servais went from left tackle to center, where he started each of the last two seasons. Redshirt senior Ryan Alexander, a graduate transfer from South Alabama played right tackle with redshirt freshman Carlos Vettorello flipping from right to left tackle.

The Orange didn’t get a consistent push for the running game, which to be fair had to be scrapped when Maryland took a big lead. Vettorello struggled all day with Maryland’s Keandre Jones.

DeVito was sacked four times and under duress consistently.

It remains a work-in-progress up front for the Orange offensive line.

DeVito and Babers need to adjust the offense accordingly until the offensive line can line up the pieces.

The Sunny Side

Trishton Shines

One of the few bright spots on the day for the Orange was the play of wide receiver Trishton Jackson, who finished with seven catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns against the Terps.

Jackson made a terrific back-shoulder catch on Syracuse’s third drive of the game, a 33-yard gain. He finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown catch.

Jackson also hauled in a 52-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Jackson is a sharp route runner and is developing a strong chemistry with DeVito.

A preseason glance at the Orange receiver group revealed a deep and talented group that may have lacked a true No. 1 target.

Jackson has pulled out for the early lead as DeVito’s top target and is ready for the spotlight.

Tommy’s Touch

While DeVito’s decision making, turnovers and improv skills are big questions coming out of the Maryland game, there were a few positives.

DeVito’s arm strength has never been an issue and he showed that off on the 33-yard strike mentioned above to Jackson. That was a tight window to squeeze the ball into and he did it with ease. His 9-yard touchdown throw on the same drive to Jackson not only had zip on it, DeVito was patient, looking off the safety before giving Jackson his prize.

DeVito also got Taj Harris involved with 85 yards on five catches and delivered an on-point touchdown strike in the corner of the end zone to Sean Riley.

This, That and the Other Thing

Maryland’s win over Syracuse was the most lopsided victory by an unranked team over a ranked team since Oklahoma beat No. 13 Texas A&M 51-13 on Oct. 23, 1999.

Syracuse kicker Andre Szymy broke his streak of 65 consecutive extra points that covered the span of his collegiate career. He missed an extra point after Syracuse’s second touchdown with 7:21 remaining in the second quarter.

Saturday marked the 14th straight game with a takeaway for Maryland, the fifth-longest streak in the country. Syracuse extended its streak of consecutive games with a takeaway to 16, the fourth-longest streak in the country.

Maryland’s 650 total yards was the seventh-highest total yielded by Syracuse in program history.

The 63 points were the most ever by Maryland against a ranked opponent.

Tweet of the Game

Maybe I’m just being naive, but I thought Syracuse was past the “allow 60+ points and lose by 40 to an average team” stage